The Guardian newspaper reported on Wednesday morning the case of an HIV-positive Ugandan National who has lost the right to remain in London following a decision by high court judge Mr. Justice Goldring to disperse her across the UK.
The woman had been living in emergency accommodation in East London and had wanted to remain in the capital to be close to the support network she had developed, but Justice Goldring upheld the current Government policy which moves asylum seekers from the capital to areas of the UK with less pronounced housing problems than London.
It is thought that the woman may be sent to a city in the north of England without a substantial population of HIV-positive African people.
Under the 1999 Immigration and Asylum Act many asylum seekers are being dispersed throughout Britain to areas that have previously had little experience of working with refugees.
New applicants are provided with vouchers and a small amount of cash that gives them an income only 70% of that of normal income support. Currently children under 16 receive £26.60 per week, adults £36.54, and a couple £57.37.
Those who leave their allocated accommodation for any reason, including racist abuse or to be nearer to their family or community, lose their entitlement to support. In spite of this, it is likely that many asylum seekers will leave the outlying areas to which they have been sent to come to London, where there are established support networks, thereby being removed from the asylum support system and adding to the number of destitute people in the capital.